The Dino King: Indemeaning Hearts
by Princess Sundew
Summary: One year after One-Eye's defeat, Speckles thinks his life will finally be peaceful. But a Spinosaurus ruins that all in a brutal attack. He must help defend their home from this Spinosaurus who feels they are invading his territory. In the coming days, Shriker and two bloodthirsty raptors may be the least of their concerns. Even their enemies will know the true meaning of terror.
1. A Spinosaurus' Rampage

**Author's note:** I recently read this novel called _Raptor Red_ that is written from the point of view of a female Utahraptor. It had no spoken dialogue, but the author did slightly anthropomorphize the animals in the novel to describe their thoughts.

So, since writing this sequel to _Speckles the Tarbosaurus_ / _The Dino King_ the way I was originally, with spoken dialogue, was going slowly, I decided to start over from scratch, writing similarly to how _Raptor Red_ is written (no dialogue, less anthropomorphism). I feel like it will be much better this way.

* * *

 **Prologue:**

 **A Spinosaurus' Rampage**

A pair of large eyes watches a _Charonosaurus_ from the cover of the dense jungle blanketing the peninsula. They belong to an adult male _Tarbosaurus_ , one of the largest carnivorous dinosaur species in all of Asia. A smaller _Tarbosaurus_ watches him from a few feet away. This is the other _Tarbosaurus_ ' son, and it is his time to learn about hunting. A _Tarbosaurus_ ' brain isn't capable of forming words to speak, but if the images he learned as a hatchling could be put into human language, he would call himself Speckles for the dark green birthmark on the right side of his snout. He would call his son, rather simply, Junior.

Speckles is a twenty-five-year-old _Tarbosaurus_ whose life, like most dinosaurs that lived seventy million years ago in what would become known as Korea in the modern era, got off to a rough start. When he was only one year old, a _Tyrannosaurus Rex_ that he identifies as One-Eye in his brain because of an injury he carried, attacked his family's nest. His older brother and twin sisters were killed in the stampede. Their mother had fought One-Eye, but she was ultimately forced off a cliff by the _Tyrannosaurus_. It was over two decades before Speckles avenged his family when One-Eye was killed by a pair of _Tylosaurus_ during their fight in the nearby ocean.

But losing his mother and siblings is hardly the only tragedy that Speckles dealt with over the past two decades. He found a mate after chasing One-Eye out of his family's nesting grounds and they produced three hatchlings, but a sudden volcanic eruption ruined that all for him. Their only escape route had been through the mountain, and in the resulting cave in, one of their hatchlings was crushed by a boulder and his mate, whom he had identified as Blue-Eyes in reference to her eye color, was wounded saving another hatchling. Blue-Eyes passed on two weeks into the migration toward this very peninsula from an infection in her leg, paired with the slight starvation and dehydration beginning to affect them. Speckles still remembered trying to fight off a pack of starving _Velociraptors_ that saw Blue-Eyes as a better prize than the fallen _Pukyongosaurus_ they had been about to feast on. After a final moment that the _Velociraptors_ seemingly allowed the _Tarbosaurus_ family, Speckles and the two hatchlings had to leave Blue-Eyes' body to the raptors.

It was after this that One-Eye returned for a last battle. He had made it to this peninsula before Speckles' family and the suffering migratory herd of herbivores. One-Eye killed one of the hatchlings before getting what he deserved. Junior is all Speckles has left to remind him of Blue-Eyes. It is exactly one year since Blue-Eyes' passing, and they have not forgotten her, or the other two hatchlings.

Speckles tries not to let his tragic life distract him from teaching his only son how to hunt. He is extraordinarily large for a _Tarbosaurus_ , standing fourteen feet tall at the shoulders and forty feet long, and weighing five-and-a-half tons. His skull is over four-and-a-half feet long. This gives him an edge that most _Tarbosaurus_ didn't have when it came to hunting. He sees further than most ever hoped to see, and by being larger than other, albeit rare, members of his species, he kills the most prey to keep him and his son well fed. Other _Tarbosaurus_ never bother Speckles when he is on the hunt. He only wishes that the _Velociraptors_ had been that way when Blue-Eyes was dying.

The female _Charonosaurus_ is grazing alone out in the field. She is unaware of the two _Tarbosaurus_ watching her graze from the jungle, waiting for the perfect moment to attack. Junior knows he has to only watch how his father hunts this time. So far, he has only chased lizards and harmless insects around their nesting around. But now, Speckles believes he is mature enough to learn how to hunt real prey. Speckles makes sure his son knows to wait here until he gives a signal, then he moves forward to get a better view of the _Charonosaurus_. She is still grazing without a care in the world.

Speckles digs his claws into the sandy soil, gritting his three-inch teeth together, and then storms out of the forest roaring. The _Charonosaurus_ lets out a panicked below and begins running across the beach. But Speckles won't let her get away. His son is watching and he hasn't seen his dad hunt before now. Speckles doesn't want to disappoint him now, finally teaching him the concept of hunting, of all times. Junior watches his father chasing the _Charonosaurus_ intently, not wanting to miss a thing. He is watching with so much focus that he doesn't notice, nor hear, something moving through the forest behind him.

The _Charonosaurus_ bellows out in fear again. It doesn't matter how hard she tries to outrun the pursuing _Tarbosaurus_. The carnivore is hungry. A hungry _Tarbosaurus_ can reach speeds upward of forty miles-per-hour when it is hungry. The _Charonosaurus_ is forty feet from head to tail, just like the pursuing _Tarbosaurus_ , and weighs a ton more, but it won't help her any. The extra two thousand pounds of weight she has to carry meant she ran slower than a _Tarbosaurus_ did.

But _Charonosaurus_ does have a hidden, potential advantage over _Tarbosaurus_ : She does weight an extra ton than he does, but her body is less bulky than a _Tarbosaurus'_ body is. She isn't capable of running faster than the predator chasing her, but she is less prone to accidents, whether it be turning faster or just avoiding tripping over her own feet. She also has a determination that the _Tarbosaurus_ does not: the _Charonosaurus_ has a will to live, for her hatchlings' sake. Their father was killed by in the stampede caused by One-Eye the year before.

If Speckles knew the equally tragic past of this _Charonosaurus_ , and about her hatchlings that would become orphans if she died, he just might let her live, in spite of needing to teach Junior about hunting. But Speckles doesn't know either of these things. The _Charonosaurus_ , who would simply call herself Chara in her mind if dinosaurs had an understanding of language, picks up the pace.

This sudden increase in speed even surprises Speckles. He has never seen a _Charonosaurus_ run nearly as fast as his own species does. They aren't known for being faster than predatory species, but this female was.

 _I wonder if she has a reason to try harder than most prey does_ , the _Tarbosaurus_ wondered in his brain. _Maybe she…_

It occurs to Speckles when he glances back at Junior, who has obediently remained hidden back in the jungle. He is still watching his dad hunt the _Charonosaurus_. His prey of choice today is a mother. Much to his son and the _Charonosaurus_ ' surprise, Speckles begins to slow down until he isn't even running fifteen miles per hour.

Junior can't believe it when he sees his dad turn away from the _Charonosaurus_ he has been chasing without second thought up until now. He wonders what got into his dad all of a sudden. It isn't like him to just call off a hunt without making a kill when there is no threat of danger, when no one has been hurt.

Speckles looks in the direction of his only son again. At first, he seems content, showing no regrets about letting the _Charonosaurus_ go free. Junior wonders what his reason for this is. But then, just as suddenly as he decided to let his prey live, Speckles' expression changes. He looks absolutely horrified now, as he is looking at his son.

 _Dad?_ Junior wonders silently. Now he is worried, but not about his dad. Speckles is now in a dead run back to where he left his son in safety. But Junior's hiding spot isn't safe anymore.

And Junior himself is about to realize that. The ground he is standing on begins to shake, but he knows it's not an earthquake. He's been through those before. This is different, not as violent as an earthquake is. Even a _Tarbosaurus_ as young as Junior is learns to recognize the footfalls of a dinosaur walking, and use them to identify what they belong to. Junior knows it's not another _Tarbosaurus_. They aren't heavy enough to be that loud when they walk.

Then he hears its roar. It is much louder than any _Tyrannosaur_ species can roar. And it sounds angry. Junior begins to wonder if his dad should have really left him here. The young _Tarbosaurus_ looks back, and now realizes that the jungle behind him is swampy. There is one dinosaur species that calls swamps home, and it is not one that takes kindly to intruders.

That is _Spinosaurus_ , a carnivore even larger than _Tarbosaurus_ is. Junior has never seen one up close and personal before, but he knows how large and aggressive they can be, especially when they feel that their territory is being invaded. _Spinosaurus_ can be anywhere from forty-one to fifty-nine feet long from head to tail, anywhere from one to _nineteen_ feet longer than even the largest _Tarbosaurus_.

 _Spinosaurus_ also dwarfs _Tarbosaurus_ in height and weight, standing upwards of fifteen to twenty feet tall (one to six feet taller than Speckles is), and weighing seven to nine tons. That is two to three more tons than _Speckles_ weights, but none of that extra bulk is fat. _Spinosaurus_ are one-hundred perfect muscle and they are proud of it. They will fight anything that gets in their way _by themselves_ , and they do not show any fear until they break bones. They are the most resilient and aggressive, but also the least common, carnivorous dinosaur in all of Asia.

Native to northeastern Africa, a few _Spinosaurus_ have begun migrating as far east across Asia as South Korea. Instinct drew this one _Spinosaurus_ to the swampland on this peninsula long before Speckles, his son, and the herd of herbivores arrived here. He has not paid much attention to them. Until now, that is. They were getting to close to his swampland territory, and he does not like that. This is the _Spinosaurus'_ territory. He's going to do something about it.

Now is when Junior sees him. First, there is the twenty-foot shadow casting itself over the immature _Tarbosaurus_. Junior isn't any taller than twelve feet right now. As far as a Spinosaurus would be concerned, he's just another dinosaur to chomp on (even if he does prefer to eat fish from the nearby sea to other dinosaurs, he's no stranger to eating other dinosaurs when he needs to).

The crocodile-like snout confirms for Junior that this is a _Spinosaurus_. That is all he sees of it, however, until it gets closer. Other than its telltale snout filled with dozens of four-inch serrated teeth, Junior saw its five-foot high sail on its blood. Its rusty blood-red color stood out against the green of the forest.

Finally, the _Spinosaurus_ stuck its head through the canopy, jaws wide open and roaring furiously at the _Tarbosaurus_ whom he felt is an invader in the swamplands that are traditionally his family's territory. He isn't going to hand it over to a lesser carnivore species, especially not one that is just a juvenile, without a fight.

Junior lets out a frightened roar, then he charges right out of the swampy forest in a hurry. He is fast, but he is also young. The _Spinosaurus_ has no trouble catching up with the intruder. This _Spinosaurus_ , who thinks of himself as Shriker in his much larger brain, has never been so furious before. All it took to set him off is a non- _Spinosaur_ species invading the swamplands. He didn't like dinosaurs that aren't in the same family of species as himself, except if he is going to have them for dinner. And when it came down to letting his own species in, they better be family to him, or a female looking for a mate.

Shriker has not yet mated. The only _Spinosaurus_ , other than himself, he has seen lately have all been males who are not related to him in the least. He chases them out of his territory without second thought. Many of the females were no different. If he didn't feel like they would be a good mate, he chased them off, too. This is his family's nest, and he won't let just anyone into it. Shriker is not a generous _Spinosaurus_ and he never has been, nor will he ever. He's been through too many tragedies to trust just anyone, not even much of his own species, anymore.

 _Dad!_ Junior screams in his brain as he runs to where his father was hunting. But now, Speckles is running to his son. He saw the _Spinosaurus_ before anyone else had, but he was too late to get his son out of there before it attacked. Now, all of the gathered dinosaurs are watching this unfold. They knew who Speckles was, and remember him as the _Tarbosaurus_ that saved their herd by fighting off One-Eye the year before. Many of them died, including one of his hatchlings, but it was Speckles alone who prevented further loss of life on that day. So they are all willing to let Speckles live on the peninsula with them, accepting the fact that their hero of sorts must also eat them to survive. They would rather have Speckles here to deal with someone like One-Eye again than not have him. And it is looking like today, Speckles might just have to do that. They have never seen a _Spinosaurus_ on the peninsula before, and are assuming he is a rogue carnivore trying to steal territory from them just as One-Eye did to Speckles on many occasions throughout the _Tarbosaurus_ ' life.

Junior feels Shriker's hot breath when jaws clamp down just behind his neck. They narrowly miss making a fatal bite into Junior's jugular vein. With teeth that large and jaws that powerful, he would have bled out in a minute if Shriker had scored a direct hit. But missing only makes Shriker more furious than he already is.

The _Spinosaurus_ kicks up dirt and picks up the pace. Junior panics. His dad is still several meters away from the case. The young _Tarbosaurus_ has never been chased by a larger predator before. He doesn't know what to do, except for keep running. But his young legs haven't had the time to build up their muscle bulk, and Junior is growing tired fast.

Shriker senses this. He can hear his target breathing heavily. His instinct tells him that this young _Tarbosaurus_ is growing fatigue quickly. _He won't last much longer,_ Shriker thinks. _I'll teach him for walking blindly into my family's traditional nesting grounds like he did._

Then it happens. _Dad!_ Junior wants to cry out, but since his dinosaur brain can't form words, he just roars happily. Speckles body slams the much larger _Spinosaurus_. This catches Shriker off guard, and he almost falls over onto the swampy beach.

 _Oh?_ Shriker thinks hatefully. _Now there are two of you? Fine. I'll just kill you first, then I'll get your son._

Shriker starts off the fight with a swing of his powerful and lengthy right arm. The three knife-like claws graze Speckles across the face. Speckles doesn't realize what hit him until he sees tiny bits of flesh hanging from Shriker's claws, which are dripping with his blood.

The site of his own blood sends Speckles into a rage. He attacks the _Spinosaurus_ , locking his jaws around the attacker's throat. But Shriker quickly shakes him off. With the extra three tons of pure muscle weight he has on Speckles is a lot of extra strength that his enemy can't even hope to ever have.

He has another advantage that Speckles' kind never will: longer, three-fingered arms.

Now, Shriker uses these arms to grab Speckles across by the head, and throw him to the ground like a ragdoll. The _Tarbosaurus_ roars as he falls to the ground. It is a distress call.

Junior responds. Instinct replaces his natural fear of this _Spinosaurus_ and he rushes in to defend his father. Shriker is unaware of this until he feels a tearing pain in his muscular hind leg. The _Spinosaurus_ ' head whips around furiously to see who dare attack him.

 _That brat! Again?_ Shriker thinks. _I'll teach you to attack me like that. You'll respect those stronger than you are after I'm done. If I don't kill you first._

Shriker shakes off the attacker who is half his height and turns to deal with him. He thinks of this young dinosaur as nothing more than a minor annoyance. But if he must deal with this brat first, then so be it.

 _Leave my dad alone,_ is what Junior is thinking. He has almost forgotten about being afraid. He doesn't want to see his dad die. But he can't fight something as large as a _Spinosaurus_ is.

And he learns that now, when he feels three dagger claws tearing through the skin over his ribs. This attack is immediately followed by Shriker kicking him in the gut. He is lucky this second attack doesn't split his belly open. Junior falls to the ground, doubling up in pain. The young _Tarbosaurus_ emits a low, guttural growl that is a mix of pain and admitting defeat.

 _This will be your last mistake,_ Shriker thinks. _I'll rip you out of this world like I'll rip your throat out, then I'll finish off your dad too._

Junior sees the crocodilian jaws about to lock around his throat. He brain tells him to react, but he is too hurt to get up fast. He closes his eyes, ready to accept the fate that is about to befall him. He expects to feel his throat being torn out before dying any minute now.

What feels like an eternity passes, and Junior doesn't feel any more pain. But he does hear what sounds like two dinosaurs fighting. He finally opens his does, and sees his dad fighting Shriker! Weakly, Junior stands up to watch. He won't be able to interfere again, and he won't be able to run away either, if he has to. Junior is sure Shriker broke a few of his ribs with that brief onslaught. His chest is throbbing painfully. Four of his ribs do not feel like they are connected together anymore.

 _Leave my son out of this!_ Speckles wants to yell at the _Spinosaurus_.

Speckles is biting, clawing, and roaring at Shriker simultaneously. He appears to be gaining the upper hand, but then a set of crocodilian jaws lock down over the back of his neck. He can't maneuver freely anymore. Speckles bellows, painfully, for his son to just run for his life.

Junior refuses. He can't let his dad die here. He's all he has left. But what can he do? He's just a juvenile _Tarbosaurus_ , and his first attempt at trying to help his dad earned him three broken ribs.

 _Somebody! Help!_ Junior wants to cry out. It comes out as a distress roar.

The _Tarbosaurus_ juvenile wants to cry. He knows he is going to lose his father. There's nothing he can do to stop the _Spinosaurus_. But then he looks over to the herd of herbivores who had only been watching the fight until now. Relief begins coursing through Junior's body when he sees a _Pukyongosaurus_ alpha male charging across the beach, with two other large males of the species following him.

Shriker pauses. His jaws remain around the _Tarbosaurus_ ' bleeding neck. His teeth continue digging into the back of Speckle's neck. He isn't anywhere near the jugular vein, but Speckles is already bleeding profusely. The sand has run red with Speckles' blood.

But something is distracting the _Spinosaurus_ now. He wonders if it an earthquake. Then he sees them, three furious _Pukyongosaurus_ males storming across the desert like eighty foot-long and forty-eight foot tall tanks. They leave sand clouds in their wake.

Shriker drops the _Tarbosaurus_ onto the swampy beach. He'll deal with him later. If these three _Pukyongosaurus_ want a fight, they'll get one. He'll tear their throats out just like he will to the _Tarbosaurus_ family.

The _Spinosaurus_ charges the shortest of the _Pukyongosaurus_. He expects to lock his teeth into the sauropod's chest, but he feels something strike against his ribcage _hard_. He feels upwards of five rib bones breaking at once and nearly falls to the ground. Weakly getting back up, Shriker realizes that the _Pukyongosaurus_ alpha male struck him across the side with its whip-like tail.

He roars weakly and thinks this through now. Shriker considers his odds of actually killing three enraged _Pukyongosaurus_ , looks up at these towering beasts, and then turns away. He limps off away from them as they bellar loudly, feeling defeated. The _Spinosaurus_ is holding his broken ribs as he limps off. The _Pukyongosaurus_ ' attack sprained a bone in his left leg, too.

Even if he doesn't die from this, the _Pukyongosaurus_ alpha male thinks, they won't see this _Spinosaurus_ again. He'll know better than to come here again.

Junior has gotten back up. He barely notices that Shriker has left. All he cares about is his dad. The adult _Tarbosaurus_ is still laying on the ground, groaning in a low tone of agony. Shriker not only tore up the muscles in the back of his neck pretty bad, he broke one rib on each side of his body, clawed the left side of his face-up, and nearly tore one of his small arms clean off. His right arm was broken, dangling there uselessly. Speckles was too hurt to get up.

 _Dad…_ Junior thought as he limped toward Speckles. _Please don't die. I can't go on without you._

The young _Tarbosaurus_ lays his head down on his father's head. If his body chemistry allowed his eyes to make tears, he would be crying. He fears his father is dying. Not much can help a wounded animal seventy million years ago except for their will to live.

Speckles can only rely on himself to get better. He will die if he doesn't want to recover from his injuries.


	2. The Lost Son

**Chapter 1:**

 **The Lost Son**

Speckles barely survived the fight with Shriker, but he by the middle of the next month, he has mostly recovered from his injuries. He is a lucky dinosaur. Most didn't live to see the next day after losing a fight with a _Spinosaurus_. The shredded muscles in his neck have strengthened and the two broken ribs healed, as has his mauled face, but Speckles couldn't use his arm yet. Speckles' right arm isn't useless like he feared it would have been, but he couldn't use it to its full potential yet, either. If he tried, the bone would snap like a twig.

The sun is only just rising over the _Tarbosaurus'_ family's den when Speckles wakes up. He has to be careful with his lame arm whenever he gets up from sleeping. Any wrong movement could undo what little healing his arm had done over the last month and a half. He yawns, then blinks his eyes open, first the right one, then the left. The den is quiet. Speckles assumes his son is still sleeping. (Junior never snores when he sleeps.) Speckles watches the sun rise for a minute, maybe two, before he looks over to where his son normally sleeps in their den.

 _Junior!_ Speckles' brain screams. The young _Tarbosaurus_ isn't there. He isn't anywhere in the cave, either. _What is he thinking? He knows better than to just go off alone like this._

Speckles roars. It is not a threat call. It is a locating call. He hopes his hears it and comes running back to the cave. Ten minutes pass and Junior does not return. There's not even a response to the call. _Oh no,_ Speckles thinks. It's not like his son not to answer that call, either. Speckles knows he has to go looking for his son, but he can't do it alone. Just because he has recovered from the fight with Shriker doesn't mean he is ready to move around extensively yet. One wrong move could break his ribs or right arm again, something which Speckles _cannot_ afford to do again so soon.

There is only one thing Speckles can do to find his son, his only hope for his family's future. (There are no female _Tarbosaurus_ on the peninsula for Speckles to raise another generation with.) He knows a mated pair of _Quetzalcoatlus_ that live in the mountains not too high above his and Junior's den. Maybe they saw where Junior went. How could the largest flying animals Speckles ever saw in his life not seen where his son went?

The _Quetzalcoatlus_ pair watch the lone _Tarbosaurus_ approaching their mountain-side nest. They remember him from the long migration here as the one who fought a _Tyrannosaurus Rex_ that caused a stampede not too far away from here. They haven't forgotten his son either. Junior used to be a rambunctious little _Tarbosaurus_ , always getting himself in trouble.

He wouldn't be alive today if the female _Quetzalcoatlus_ , who would call herself Quena if her dinosaurian brain knew the concept of language, hadn't flown over when she did. Quena hasn't forgotten when Junior got himself caught in the surf at the beach and nearly drowned. She saved him out of maternal instinct, ignoring that they were not of the same species. Quena and her mate, who would call himself Zalio in his own brain, are all was left of their family living here. All except for one, none of their most recent nest of eggs hatched, and he is no longer with them.

Quena and Zalio lost their only son on the way to this peninsula in the midst of the chaos caused by the volcanic eruption. He had learned to fly by then, but the clouds of volcanic ash blocked the Quetzalcoatlus family's view and he was separated from them just like that. Quena and Zalio risked life and limb, and being lost from the rest of the escaping dinosaurs, to look for their son, but they never did find him. Their son has been missing for more than a year now, but Quena and Zalio haven't given up hope that he would return to them one day. It is rare, but hardly impossible, for young dinosaurs to survive in the world without their parents. Speckles is testament to that, having lived all but the first year of his early life without his family there to protect him.

Quena faintly remembers Speckles from back when they were only hatchings. Her mother attacked him for raiding the nest of another Quetzalcoatlus family. He has the same telltale dark green birthmark as that _Tarbosaurus_. She sometimes wonders if her son is as desperate as Speckles was for food, to risk his life by eating the eggs of other dinosaurs. She wouldn't hold it against him if he did so to survive.

Speckles emits a low growl as he approaches the Quetzalcoatlus' nest. This tells them that he does not come here to threaten them, for they have watched _Tarbosaurus_ and memorized their different behavioral actions over the past two decades. They had the perfect opportunity for this on the migration here by watching Speckles and his family's behavior before Blue-Eyes' passing, even after that, during the fight with One-Eye three miles from here.

Quena and Zalio notice right away that someone is missing from this picture: this _Tarbosaurus_ never travels without his son. Instinct now tells them both why he came to them peacefully. Speckles wants them to help look for his son, for he is still too injured to act on his own. Both Quetzalcoatlus sense his pain caused by his ribs and arm that were still healing. Like countless other dinosaurs, they witnessed Speckles' fight with the _Spinosaurus_ at the swamp last month, and also like those other dinosaurs, Quena and Zalio have been a good help for Speckles. They all knew he was different from other carnivores, that he would never hunt a sick or wounded dinosaur he believes wanted to live. Speckles never hunts for sport either, unlike a lot of other carnivores did seventy million years ago, like the deceased One-Eye used to.

When the _Quetzalcoatlus_ fly, their wing beats sound like a low thunder against Speckles' ears. He can hear their leathery wings beating against the wind even though they are flying well over forty feet in the air above him, higher than any Sauropod species stood. Some dinosaurs confuse the sound of _Quetzalcoatlus_ wing beats with approaching through and go into a panic, but they have slowly learned to recognize the difference more recently.

 _Quetzalcoatlus_ are the eagle of the late Cretaceous Period. There is nothing they can't find using their eyes. This is why Speckles believes they can find Junior, no matter where his son went. He and Junior have seen _Quetzalcoatlus_ spot prey from several miles high in the sky, then dive bomb that same prey without any problems. The species is the best sky hunter of their time and nothing will rival _Quetzalcoatlus_ ' eyesight even after they are extinct.

Quena doesn't seen anything that even begins to looks like a _Tarbosaurus_ yet but she isn't going to give up. The memory of her and Zalio's lost son won't allow her to give up on finding another dinosaur recover their lost son. If they can do anything about it, Quena and Zalio won't let another dinosaur parent lose their only hatchling like they did. No parent deserves to lose their hatchling, but some hatchlings did deserve to lose their parents. Some dinosaurs were better parents than others were.

 _Nothing,_ Quena is thinking silently. She searches best when dinosaurs aren't making any noise. _Nothing…nothing. Just a family of grazing_ Charonosaurus _. A_ Pukyongosaurus _herd over there. There are_ Torosaurus _…a pair of_ Oviraptors _…and a pair of_ Tsintaosaurus _over there_. _Where could that_ Tarbosaurus _be?_

The mated pair of _Oviraptor_ heard the thunderous _Quetzalcoatlus_ wing beats passing over their nest, and hissed threats up at them. The female went on to protectively sit on her eggs. The male continues hissing until the _Quetzalcoatlus_ pair and Speckles have moved well past their nesting area. _Oviraptors_ didn't trust other dinosaurs. They are always chased off, being treated as nothing more than egg thieves by the other dinosaurs. These two have never stolen an egg in their life. In fact, the opposite was true. The only times they have ever handled eggs that aren't their own was when they returned three _Therizinosaurus_ eggs that had been snatched right from the nest by a pair of _Velociraptors_ , probably scouts for a larger pack. They killed the raptors and returned the eggs to the nest. And how did the _Therizinosaurus_ mother repay them? She tried slicing and dicing them even though she saw them place the damn eggs back in her nest!

The male _Oviraptor_ continued having this thought to this day: _Some gratitude you showed us. Next time we'll next let your egg get scrambled by nest raiders._

Ten minutes later, Quena screeches down at Speckles. The _Tarbosaurus_ looks up at the _Quetzalcoatlus_ pair, then they both pick up the pace of their flight. He wonders what they have seen. Speckles also picks up the pace, but not as quickly as Quena and Zalio did. His leg, which he didn't even notice was hurt in the fight with Shriker until a few weeks ago, still bothers him, too. He can't run as fast as he wishes he could yet.

By the time Speckles catches up with the _Quetzalcoatlus_ , they have become silent, perching on the top of a fallen-over boulder. Speckles saw what they are staring at when he arrives on the scene slowly. A sleeping _Charonosaurus_ female, who opens one eye when she hears the booming sound of Speckles walking. She recognizes Speckles from the day he chased her across the beach before the _Spinosaurus_ killed him and takes off in a panic.

Speckles hears Quena sigh a somewhat high-pitched sigh before he realizes what the two _Quetzalcoatlus_ thought they saw from way up there. They must have thought they spotted Junior when it was just Chara, who is clearly not too happy with Quena and Zalio about bringing a _Tarbosaurus_ into her sleeping area. They all see the _Charonosaurus_ bellowing angrily from a not too far away cliff before they move on.

Speckles is disappointed. He had hoped they found his son, but it was just one of many dinosaur that would not be happy to see him all that often. The _Tarbosaurus_ is beginning to lose hope that he will ever seen his son again. There aren't any signs pointing toward where he could have gone. No footmarks in the ground, no scent trails, no droppings. Just nothing. He wonders if he will ever see his son again.

Speckles doesn't understand what his son is thinking. Why would Junior run away from their den? He isn't old enough to fend for himself quite yet. Junior is barely past being a year-old _Tarbosaurus_. He has a few more months to go before he can fend for himself and Speckles has made sure countless times that he shouldn't ever leave their territory without him. There are not too many other carnivores on the peninsula, but the ones that did exist here, like Shriker, wouldn't pass up the opportunity to make a meal out of a juvenile _Tarbosaurus_ who wandered away from the nest.

He has begun to fear that is what happened to his son. The only footmarks Speckles or the _Quetzalcoatlus_ have seen were back at the den. It's as if Junior has vanished off the face of the Earth. Speckles doubts his son has learned how to cover up his own footmarks yet, so he doesn't understand why they aren't seen fresh ones somewhere on the peninsula. It hasn't rained for a few days, so they all know that they couldn't have been washed away by nature already.

 _Junior…_ Speckles thinks. _Please come home._

Speckles fears that the next time he'll see his son again, if he ever does, is as a half-eaten skeleton. Shriker may have been seen leaving the peninsula, but that doesn't mean he won't come back seeking revenge. If he saw Junior wandering the wild by himself, Shriker would kill him without giving it a second think, especially if he remembers what Junior is to Speckles.

It may very well already be too late to save his son, but Speckles will not stop looking until he finds him alive or finds evidence that he didn't make it. But where else can they look? They have already spent half the day searching all across the peninsula for Junior and there hasn't been even an old scent trail to help them decide on where to search for him next. The situation isn't looking up in Speckles' mind.

 _I shouldn't have slept in,_ Speckles is thinking. _We were supposed to practice hunting smaller prey at sunrise and I didn't get up early._

Now it hit Speckles like a boulder. Speckles remembers showing his son where they were going to hunt today. Junior has to have went there to hunt, whether his father is with him or not. Speckles is going to have a word with his son if he is there.

Speckles growls at the _Quetzalcoatlus_. They are still perched on the boulder. They get the point and take off. This time, Speckles will be the leader. They fly much lower, no higher than Speckles is standing at full height, than they have so far today.

Speckles leads Quena and Zalio to a flat plain with a field of grass so tall that even Speckles could hide from the world behind it, if he ducks down. This is where he was supposed to hunt bring Junior for their hunting trip several hours ago. Speckles smells another _Tarbosaurus_ and he knows it is Junior. But he doesn't see him.

They silently hope Junior hasn't wandered into the tall grass. It is often the favored ambush zone for _Velociraptors_ , who will not hesitate to ambush a juvenile _Tarbosaurus_ if there are enough of them. But that is not the only danger here. If the _Velociraptors_ are not around, then it is where some dinosaur parents build their nests, near the edge of the field. _Torosaurus_ , _Charonosaurus_ , and _Oviraptor_ are no strangers to this area when it comes to nest building.

Even _Velociraptors_ aren't foolish enough to wander too close to a nest here—they may very well find themselves with the horns of an angry _Torosaurus_ mother piercing through their small bodies. That has happened before and the _Velociraptors_ have learned their lesson more recently.

They won't get near an _Oviraptor_ nest either. Just because their name is Latin for egg taker or egg seizer doesn't mean they are egg thieves. That is left to only the most desperate _Oviraptors_ , and most _Velociraptors_ , hunting the land near the peninsula. There is not a dinosaur that can become more angry than an _Oviraptor_ mother can when her nest is threatened. She will stand up to even a _Tarbosaurus_ who accidentally gets too close to her nest, and if standing her ground is useless, she and her mate will pick up their eggs and find a safer spot to build their nest.

A juvenile _Tarbosaurus_ , on the other hand, is not off a hungry _Velociraptor_ pack's radar as long as they doubt its parents are anywhere nearby and if there are enough of them to safely bring it down.

Speckles won't let that happen, though, even if he loses his son. He already let Blue-Eyes' body be eaten by a _Velociraptor_ pack when he had to leave her to them for their hatchlings' sake, and he wouldn't let that happen again, to Junior, even if he died.

The scent trail of Junior is becoming stronger now. Speckles forgets about the pain in his right leg and runs as fast his body will allow him to toward where the scent is coming from. Speckles runs through the tall grass, with Quena and Zalio flying after him. They are surprised to see Speckles running when his leg isn't in perfect condition.

Who could blame him, though? His son is in dangerous territory where mother _Torosaurus_ , _Oviraptor_ , and _Charonosaurus_ guarding their nests could be more dangerous than any _Velociraptor_ pack. But even an injured _Tarbosaurus_ father searching for his lost son could be more dangerous than anything else in his world. A mated pair of _Oviraptor_ cowering in the grass over their nest back away, instinctively sensing this about Speckles.

 _Junior!_ Speckles wanted to scream. _Stay where you are! I'm coming for you._

Quena screeches an alarm call. _Speckles!_

The _Tarbosaurus_ nearly trips over a decently-sized rock in his path. He slows down to a limp. Lightly stubbing his foot against the rock was enough to send a shooting pain up through his hurt leg. The two _Quetzalcoatlus_ land on the ground not far away from Speckles. If their facial muscles allowed for it, they would be bearing concerned expressions right now.

 _I'm alright,_ Speckles would say. _I just need to rest for a minute…_ He groans in agony in a _Tarbosaurus_ way, then nearly falls to the ground. His leg feels like it is going to give out under his weight.

Speckles is about to rest his head on the ground when the scent of another dinosaur hits his nose again. He almost forgot about it with the near accident he just avoided. It is another _Tarbosaurus_ , a young one, and it is coming this way.

For Speckles, dealing with the pain in his hind leg makes waiting for the _Tarbosaurus_ to appear feel like an eternity. Finally, it appears out of the tall grass, after five minutes.

 _Junior…_ Speckles groans painfully.

Junior is shocked. Not because his father came looking for him or that there are two _Quetzalcoatlus_ watching over him. What he can't believe is that his father came looking for him when he is still hurt. Instinct tells Junior that his father's leg hasn't healed properly. He thinks it wasn't wise for his father to have done something so risky. Seeing him on the ground, groaning in pain like he is, just reinforces this thought for Junior.

Junior feels that his father being hurt again is his fault. He ran away from their cave because he felt that his father would blame him for what happened with Shriker. He lead the _Spinosaurus_ to his father without realizing it, but that hasn't stopped Junior from blaming himself for what happened.

He realizes that isn't the case though. His father came all this way just to find him, even though he his body hasn't healed all the way yet.

Speckles is paying for walking all this way on a hurt leg. But he is just relieved that his son isn't injured or worse. His body will heal eventually. If his son had died, there wouldn't be a second chance for him. Speckles doesn't care that he risked breaking his hurt leg. He couldn't have lived with knowing his son might be in harm's way.

Junior kneels down by his father and did the only thing a young _Tarbosaurus_ knows to do for a hurting parent. Gently, Junior brushes his head against his father's head. He knows now that he hasn't been blamed for what happened with Shriker.

His father still cares about him a lot. But now it is Junior's turn to care for him.

* * *

 **Author's note:** The title of this story has been changed from "The Dino King 2" to "(In)Demeaning Hearts", a title thought of by mikey1393drago when we were discussing this rewrite. My reason for this title change (which will probably happen again in the future, I imagine) is while this is a sequel to The Dino King/Speckles the Tarbosaurus, I wanted a unique title rather than simply "The Dino King 2". Plus I wanted something that refers to Shriker, the Spinosaurs that almost killed Speckles in the first chapter, in a way. "(In)Demeaning Hearts" is what we agreed on for now. However, I think I'll call the story "The Dino King: (In)Demeaning Hearts" since this is a direct sequel to the movie, unlike my first example below this paragraph.

(Such as the movie "Dinocroc", its sequel had its title changed from "Dinocroc 2" to "Supergator" during production. Another example is how Jurassic World 2/Jurassic Park 5's working title is "Ancient Futures".)


	3. Oviraptors and Murderers

**Chapter 2:**

 **Oviraptors and Murderers**

The sharp-beaked dinosaur stays on her nest constantly while her mate is away. She is an _Oviraptor_ and an upset one at the present moment. The _Tarbosaurus_ and _Quetzalcoatlus_ have since moved on, but their scents are lingering. This has left the _Oviraptor_ mother on edge. Despite what other dinosaurs instinctively think about her species, she and all other female _Oviraptors_ are good mothers. If the species existed in this part of the world, she would think of herself being a better mother than _Maiasaura_ are and their name literally means "good mother reptile."

Her mate is away at the moment, hunting smaller prey like lizards and birds. When he returns, it will be her turn to go on the hunt. It is risky, but not as risky as leaving their nest ungraded is. They must take turns hunting their own prey if they are to survive or they will return to the horrifying scenario of their nest having been destroyed by other dinosaurs. _Velociraptors_ have become more prevalent in the region as of late. The _Oviraptor_ wishes she and her made had been able to move to the peninsula where many dinosaurs migrated before she laid eggs. She is more than a match for one _Velociraptor_ , but if an entire unit of them finds her, they'll easily kill her and take off with the eggs.

* * *

Another hour passes before her mate returns. Orius has caught a _Protarchaeopteryx_ , which is dangling lifelessly from his beak-like jaws. A light trail of blood tells the female which we he returned from. She throws a fit. Orius knows that region to the north is far too dangerous for them to hunt. It was taken over by the _Velociraptors_ when they were only hatchlings themselves.

The female tears out the _Protarchaeopteryx's_ liver and eats it in one big gulp. The liver is the most nutritious part of anything on a carnivore's menu. She will need the energy it gives if she is to bring back her own catch today. She makes sure her mate understands he cannot leave the nest unguarded no matter what, then heads south to hunt. She will not risk their safety by hunting the northern wasteland where the _Velociraptors_ live like Orius did. They cannot keep taking risks like that. It will be the death of them and their eggs.

It has been a hard time for carnivores living in this wasteland ever since the volcanic eruption and its aftermath destroyed much of the forests in a two-week period the year before. Fighting over prey among species that never interacted before kills more dinosaurs than the intense heat and scarcity of food and water does. In her travels to her chosen hunting ground, she witnessed a lone _Velociraptor_ female fighting with a female _Airakoraptor_ over a half-eaten _Tsintaosaurus_ carcass. She chose not to get involved in their skirmish, knowing she could catch her own food without risking her life in a fight between two raptor species.

She finds the only lake anywhere near the nest. There is a _Linheraptor_ drinking at the lake's edge. It is on guard, but it doesn't seem overly concerned. But that is not the case for Ovina. _Oviraptors_ are good mothers, but they are also one of the most skittish dinosaur species. It is this paranoia about their world that makes them good mothers. They won't let anything foreign near their nest, even if it appears harmless. Ovina's unspoken motto would be _It's the quiet ones you have to worry about around your nest_ if she had an understanding of spoken language.

The _Linheraptor_ looks up at Ovina. She snarls, as if to say, "This is my drinking spot at the lake. Keep your distance," then she resumes slurping at the water. The water is still cold despite the desert climate. She's not going to pass up this rare opportunity at a cold drink. Neither is Ovina.

Carefully, just to avoid provoking the _Linheraptor_ , she approaches the lake at the opposite end. Her secret intention was to hunt the _Linheraptor_ , but that was before she realized how thirsty she is. She, at least temporarily, has pushed the thought of her hungry to the back of her brain. A _Linheraptor_ won't be too much of a threat to her. They are equal in size and weight, but Ovina has the advantage of more life experience. She has three years on the _Linheraptor_. She is at the end of its juvenile years, as far as Ovina can tell. Hardly ready for mating, but she is old enough to travel without its parents anymore.

Ovina drinks her fill of water. She turns to resume her hunt, but then she remembers the almost juvenile _Linheraptor_ isn't focused entirely on watching for threats. It will be an easy kill that can keep Ovina and her mate well fed for a while, not even considering the _Protarchaeopteryx_ her mate captured earlier.

The _Linheraptor_ doesn't seem to hear Ovina coming from behind, she is that preoccupied with slurping the cold water. The sand muffles any sound Ovina's bird-like feet make. She stands behind the _Linheraptor_ for a minute before moving in for the strike. But as she leans in, the raptor spins around. She began to feel like someone has watching her.

The _Linheraptor_ immediately attacks. She may be young, but that doesn't mean she's not a good fighter. Her parents taught her well before they kicked her out of the nest to fend for herself one month ago. Her deadly hand claws nearly slice and dice the _Oviraptor's_ jugular vein, but she dodges the unexpected attack at the last moment.

Ovina thinks, _Maybe she's a better fighter than I thought. I underestimated this juvenile raptor._

Then she thinks, _But I'm still a better fighter than she is. I have more experience than she does. I must be patient, though._

Ovina backs off, as if she is has no intention of harming the _Linheraptor_. This seems to drag her into a false sense of security after a few minutes. Eventually, she returns to enjoying the cold water. She is no longer paying any attention to the _Oviraptor_.

 _It's not like she can hurt me anyway_ , the _Linheraptor_ might be thinking. _They're all beak and claws for tearing at plants and small lizards. Nothing a_ Linheraptor _like myself has to fear._

But she will soon learn how wrong she is to think that about an _Oviraptor_. Ovina moves in again, this time much more silently than she did before. She is moving like an assassin well trained in the art of being a silent killer.

Before the _Linheraptor_ can react this time, she feels a sharp pinch against its neck, not far from her life-giving vein. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see the same _Oviraptor_ that she thought was going to leave her alone. She was tricked. This time, letting her guard down might cost the _Linheraptor_ her life. But she's not going down without a fight.

The raptor begins thrashing around, trying to loosen the grip of the _Oviraptor's_ beak. But it's no use. Ovina is much stronger than the juvenile raptor could ever hope to be. Her beak begins cutting deep into the _Linheraptor's_ neck. Blood sprays her tan face before she drops her prey. The sand runs red, the _Linheraptor_ gasps for her last few breaths. Ovina's beak carved a fatal wound into her prey's jugular vein. It's an injury there is no recovering back from eighty million years ago.

Following a final gasp for air, the _Linheraptor_ is dead after a few minutes. Ovina waits, wanting to make sure her prey is really dead. Someones a "dead" dinosaur has one left fighting attempt left in them after they appear to have died. Ovina finally approaches when she is sure the _Linheraptor_ has slipped away from this world.

 _She's dead now_ , Ovina thinks. The _Oviraptor_ puts her beak to work again. This time, she uses it to pick up the dead raptor and carry it like a rag doll back to her nest. A trail of the _Linheraptor's_ blood will mark Ovina's trail back to her nesting area, but there aren't other dinosaurs in this region with enough interest to follow it.

The _Oviraptor_ family will feast tonight.

* * *

Ovina is confused. Orius isn't greeting her as she returns to their nest. She knows he is loyal to protecting their nest no matter what while she's away, but it's never been like him to not step away for a second to greet her upon return from the hunt.

But she is pleased nonetheless despite this being odd behavior from Orius. This just proves that he is a loyal father that he won't leave the nest even if he knows she's returned with a successful catch. He'll be happy to see that she caught a decently sized _Linheraptor_ without suffering any injury, she thinks. By herself no less.

 _Something's not right_ , Ovina thinks suddenly. The smell of blood reaches her nostrils and it's not the blood dripping from the wound in _Linheraptor's_ neck. It's not the blood of the _Protarchaeopteryx_ that Orius killed either.

Suddenly, Ovina drops the carcass from her beak. There is a very low thud when her body hits the desert floor. She no longer cares about it. Instinct tells her something is really wrong. She has smelled her mate's blood once in the past when he actually ran into a sharp rock protruding from the ground. It tore a terrible gash into Orius' leg, and he almost didn't live to be there when Ovina laid their eggs. The new blood scent she smells now is exactly the same as the blood she had smelled when Orius injured himself back then.

Ovina runs back to their faster than an _Oviraptor_ typically has to. There isn't a doubt in her Dinosaurian brain now that she smells her mate's blood. There is a second scent that she is barely thinking about until her brain tells her what it is: _Achillobator_.

Measuring nineteenth head to tail, _Achillobator_ is the largest Dromaeosaur species next to its earlier North American cousin, _Utahraptor_ , which measure twenty-three feet head to tail. They are native to Mongolia but some migrate have began migrating to China for its cooler climate, much like how Ovina's species did centuries ago. Ovina knows she is no match for such a large predator and Orius isn't either. They are less than a third the length of an adult _Achillobator_ male. She silently hopes Orius got away with as many of their eggs as possible, not realizing how unrealistic that is for an _Oviraptor_ to do.

Ovina approaches her nesting area cautiously. The smell of a lone male _Achillobator_ becomes stronger as she gets closer. It must still be in the area, if it hasn't left yet. She also smells Orius and his blood. This slowly does away any hope the _Oviraptor_ had that he escaped with their eggs, without serious injury.

More cautiously than ever, Ovina peeks over the hill overlooking their nest. She will wish she didn't. The _Achillobator_ male is still there, and so is Orius. But Orius is dead. Ovina spots his broken body on the ground. It has been half stripped of flesh by the _Achillobator_. Seeing her mate's bloody, exposed skeleton and chest organs makes Ovina sick to her stomach. It breaks her heart, too, to see her mate is dead. But they have left their eggs alone, as hard to believe as that is.

Ovina mentally screams, _No!_

There is another predator moving about the nest that she didn't notice before. It is a female _Airakoraptor_. Ovina has never seen an _Airakoraptor_ traveling with an _Achillobator_ , but there is a species bond between them. They are both Dromaeosaur species. They won't mate because any eggs the _Airakoraptor_ does lay would be stillborn or ugly mutations that even their mother would kill. But they do trust each other enough to hunt together.

The _Airakoraptor_ moves to Orius' body. She would call herself Airia if she could speak, because that is how her brain identifies her species. A starved expression comes over the raptor's face. She let the _Achillobator_ , Achilles, eat first and now it's her turn. She goes for the _Oviraptor's_ stomach, untouched until now. Her killing claw slices him open from the bottom of the ribcage down to his hind legs.

Ovina looks away before her mate's entrails spill out. If an _Oviraptor_ were capable of crying, she would be. The sound of hearing Orius' intestines and stomach spilling out of his belly makes her vomit up what little she has eaten today, quietly so her mate's killers don't hear her.

The _Airakoraptor_ quickly eats up the mess of spilled internal organs. She thinks about resting first, but then she remembers something. The _Oviraptor_ they killed had been setting on a nest of eggs that is now unguarded.

Staring hungrily and vengefully at the nest, the _Airakoraptor_ might be thinking something like, _I haven't eaten eggs in a great while. It will be ironic justice for their mother. They always steal and eat eggs from our kind._

She dashes over to the nest, where she examines each egg. She is contemplating which one she should eat first. Ovina is helplessly watching this unfold. She wants to save her eggs, but she knows she isn't strong enough to take on an _Achillobator_ and _Airakoraptor_. They'll tear her limb from limb before she has the opportunity to save a single egg, or worse yet, they'll eat her alive.

Ovina begins to whimper in a way unique to _Oviraptors_ when Airia snatches up one of the eggs in her hands. The sound of an eggshell crunching hits Ovina's ears. She sees egg yolk and blood from an unborn _Oviraptor_ chick dripping from the raptor's jaws.

Airia repeats the process of crunching the eggs in her powerful jaws, then swallowing egg yolk and unborn _Oviraptor_ chicks, until there are no eggs left in the nest. Ovina wants to tear her apart with her beak for this, but she knows there is nothing she can do to larger dinosaurs.

Achilles trots over to the _Oviraptor_ male's body. He stares at it for a minute, then he decapitates the body with one slash of his killing claw. Much like the Greek warrior of the same name, Achilles would think of himself as a warrior of his species if dinosaurs had such concepts. He is particularly large for an _Achillobator_ , rivalry even the largest species of Dromaeosaur, the _Utahraptor_. His species' name ( _Achillobator giganticus_ ), in fact, means "Achilles' hero". It is a combination of the Greek word Achilles, meaning "hero of the Greeks" in Latin, and "baatar", meaning "hero" in Mongolian, and gigantas, meaning "giant" in Greek. So Achilles is "Achilles' hero giant."

Rather appropriately, Achilles, the _Achillobator_ , has fought many times in his life. He thinks of himself as the strongest _Achillobator_ in the land and that no dinosaur is a match for him. Other _Achillobator_ , which are rare in China, respect Achilles for his feats. He has never lost a fight, even against larger dinosaurs. Juvenile, but hardly inexperienced, _Alectrosaurus_ were no match for his pure intelligence and raw power. A young _Tarbosaurus_ wouldn't stand a chance against him either. _Tyrannosaur_ species are no different from each other as far as Achilles is concerned. They'll all fall to his eight-inch killing claw supported by extraordinarily powerful Achilles tendons. Even Male _Utahraptors_ would be envious of a raptor like Achilles and females would be drooling where he walks.

Those who fear him are dead or they have learned to stray away from his and Airia's territory. They cannot produce chicks with each other, being different species, but they think of themselves as the deadliest pair of hunters in all of China. They do not fear _Spinosaurus_ like the rogue Shriker who has begun wandering the desert lately. He is hurt and has never been able to catch them. Achilles and his hunting partner plan to bring that _Spinosaurus_ down one day, when he's no longer strong enough to protect himself.

 _He's probably dead by now anyway,_ Achilles thinks. _His kind can't thrive if they don't have fish to eat and freshwater to swim in._

Finally, Ovina turns away, weeping like only an _Oviraptor_ can weep. She feels her heart breaking as she leaves everything she everyone she loved behind. She hears _Achillobator_ and _Airakoraptor_ teeth shredding her mate's flesh as she moves away from their kill zone. She knows she can never return to this region now. Ovina was born here and this was where she became pregnant from Orius, so thinking about that only hurts more than it normally would. She has lost her mate, all their eggs that had been days away from hatching, and the land she was born on in a matter of mere minutes.

 _How could things get any worse?_ Ovina thinks. She sniffs, blinks, and then resumes walking. There is nothing she can do now but migrate. Other _Oviraptors_ have spoken of a peninsula that is safe from monstrous carnivores like the pair that killed her mate and unhatched chicks. That is her only chance at survive, she thinks.

She does not know the way there, but she remembers the _Tarbosaurus_ and mated pair of _Quetzalcoatlus_ that came all this way looking for the juvenile _Tarbosaurus_ a few days ago. An unknown instinct tells her they are from the peninsula. ( _Call it an_ Oviraptor's _intuition, maybe,_ Ovina thinks.) If their scent trails haven't been covered by wind-blown sand, she will follow it until she finds the peninsula they came from. Ovina will die at the claws and teeth of Achilles and Airia if she does not get far away from her birthplace as fast as possible. She is downwind of those murderers right now, but Ovina knows as well as any dinosaur that desert winds are unpredictable. A change in their direction could easily put Ovina upwind of Achilles and Aria, and at their mercy. If they pick up her scent, they will kill Ovina just like they killed Orius and their chicks.

Ovina stops at the top of a hill. The wind is not blowing here. The hill's elevation is low, but it is high enough that she can see a distant green strip of land jutting out into the sea from up here. She knows that is the peninsula her fellow _Oviraptors_ spoke. She at least knows what she must look for now. She also knows it will take her a few days to get there.

However, Ovina only hopes for one thing right now, more than making it to safety, even. That is for Achilles and Airia to not pick up her scent trail, then find and murder her like they did her poor Orius. Ovina has lost everything out here, but her life was thankfully not one of those things. Her parents died long ago and she has no siblings that lived past their first few months of life.

It is up to Ovina to continue her family's healthy bloodline or it will become extinct. She will have to mate again with the resident _Oviraptors_ at the peninsula once she migrates there.

* * *

 **Author's note:** A gorier chapter, but I felt like now was time to introduce some secondary villains in the story. I also introduced, following research of course, a lot of other species of dinosaurs this chapter. They are all Chinese or Mongolian species to avoid losing too much realism. (Note: _Maiasaura_ won't appear in this story. They are a North American species, from Montana specifically, and were only mentioned in the first paragraph for comparison.)

I won't be surprised if Achilles and Airia (the secondary villains) and Ovina (the widowed _Oviraptor_ ) eventually play a larger role in the story. I may have some surprise twists in store, but its probably best I don't mention things I'm thinking about to avoid potentially spoiling something.


	4. Achilles, Airia and the Microraptors

**Chapter 3:**

 **Achilles, Airia and the _Microraptors_**

The _Airakoraptor_ yawns a raptor yawn. Her belly is bloated from eating the entire batch of _Oviraptor_ eggs and a third of their father's flesh all in one setting. Her act was one of dinosaur sadism and gluttony. Now she looks like a very pregnant raptor, lying on her right side so that her belly is exposed to the sun. If she were alone, this would be a foolish act on Airia's part. But Achilles is watching over his hunting partner while she rests. He knew better than to eat so much that he would become lethargic. But he has never known Airia to have the same amount of self-control a Dromaeosaur should have.

Secretly, this involuntary laziness stems from Airia spending nearly her entire life as an orphan. She never had a parental figure to teach her how a raptor should behave. If it weren't for a merciful _Achillobator_ mother who had just lost her mate and nest finding the month-old orphan, Airia wouldn't be alive today. The one egg the mother saved from her best hatched into Achilles. Achilles' mother died, too, in a terrible hunting mishap involving a male _Torosaurus_ before she could teach them proper raptor etiquette. The _Torosaurus_ impaled Achilles' mother through the chest with his horns. It was an instantaneous death. She never felt the pain of the horns stabbing through her ribcage and heart and lungs.

The deceased _Achillobator_ that raised Airia was his mother. Achilles' father died in the jaws of a red-snouted _Tyrannosaurus Rex_ who become infamous for leaving dozens of young dinosaurs orphaned. That includes Speckles, the same Tarbosaurus who Achilles and his hunting partner observed a few days ago disturbing the _Oviraptor_ family they recently slaughtered.

Airia is one of the few dinosaurs orphaned during One-Eye's reign of terror who wasn't orphaned because of the sadistic _T-Rex_. Rather, Mother Nature robbed Airia of her entire family in one instance. She remembered her mother deciding to lead her family during a particularly violent storm fifteen years ago when her father was fast becoming exhausted. A tornado had destroyed the nest but everyone escaped without injury.

But the swamp Airia's mother had led them to flooded rapidly before any of the raptor family, other than Airia, could climb into the trees. She watched her parents and older siblings perish in the flood of muddy water.

Her mother was the last one to die. She suffered a slower death than the rest of her family. She painfully suffocated in the mud that quickly thickened around her body. To this day, Airia continues having terrible flashbacks to the day she lost her entire family. Airia still hears her mother choking on the mud flooding down her gullet every time she closes her eyes at night. Achilles often has to help her get back to sleep on such nights, then sleep close to Airia until sunrise so she remains relatively calm. Achilles has never before seen a dinosaur suffering post-traumatic stress disorder until Airia began behaving this way.

However, the _Airakoraptor_ is pleased with herself right now, in spite of her terrible past. (She tries as much as possible not to dwell on it.) She has eaten enough already that her belly is bloated to where she feels lazier than is normal. She has also made an _Oviraptor_ mother suffer today, too, and it was in the most ironic way imaginable (in her false way of thinking). Airia always wanted to make an _Oviraptor_ mother watch another dinosaur eat her own eggs. This is ironic justice in Airia's raptor brain because one of the few things her mother taught her was that _Oviraptors_ are egg thieves that deserve punishing. Airia may never learn, though, that female _Oviraptors_ often become the best mothers if they reach adulthood.

Achilles loudly sniffs the air. The powerful odor of fresh blood coming from the _Oviraptor_ carcass makes it difficult for him to smell approaching dangers. Airia smelling like blood too doesn't help matters any. Her snout and teeth and claws are all stained with dried blood. Between this and her extra-plump belly, Airia looks like an _Airakoraptor_ who has purposefully been stuffed so she can be served as a feast for other carnivorous dinosaurs. There is no way she could fight to defend herself if a situation arose where she would be required. All the excess meat and the seven or more eggs she consumed are weighing her down.

Of course, it's not like Airia is thinking about that right now. Having her gut stuffed with so much fresh meat makes her feel like a lazy and somewhat vain _Airakoraptor_. She hasn't eaten this well ever since the volcano destroyed everything in this region a year ago. When she gets this way, Airia almost expects Achilles to serve her hand and foot as long as she isn't in danger. She is too lethargic to feel up to cleaning the blood from her snout and claws. She will feel like cleaning herself once the meat in her stomach is digested.

Until then, Airia will have to rely on her _Achillobator_ hunting partner to continue serving as her lookout. She will continue to rest for as long as she wishes because she knows Achilles will never abandon her. They have been through too much in their lives to have any kind of falling out.

Achilles and Airia have known each other ever since they were chicks when his mother rescued the orphaned _Airakoraptor_. In that time, Achilles has become used to Airia being this way after she feasts well. This time, he can't really blame her. This is the first time they've been well fed in over a year. Before now, they've just scraped by on scraps of half-burnt dinosaur carcasses left by the volcanic disaster.

Airia is otherwise as good of a hunter and fighter as Achilles is. They have never let each other down on a hunt or when defending territory. Never again will two dinosaurs of two different, but so similar at the same time, raptor species work together so well with each other.

Sometimes Airia has a wish that she could take Achilles as her mate, but her raptor instinct has forbid her from acting on it so far. This is because she is an _Airakoraptor_ and he is an _Achillobator_. They are both of the Dromaeosauridae family, but Airia is a maniraptoran raptor and Achilles is not. Her ancestors' instinct passed down through generations to her almost prevents Airia from taking a non- _Airakoraptor_ male as a mate. She fears there is just enough difference between her and Achilles' species' genes that an _Airakoraptor_ and an _Achillobator_ would never produce healthy chicks if they did copulate.

There has always naturally been a faint sexual attraction between Achilles and Airia because they are both Dromaeosauridae but they may never act on these feelings. They have been through enough tragedy in their lives that producing chicks that die during their infancy would be too much for Achilles and Airia. In the modern era humans will discover that some closely related species can reproduce, but eighty million years ago, dinosaurs do not possess this kind of knowledge yet. They learn through experimentation and life experiences, not through studying their species' biology.

Suddenly, Achilles growls at a _Microraptor_ that got too close to him when it scurries past their temporary shelter. Then he attacks. The _Achillobator_ thousand-pound body snaps the _Microraptor's_ body like a twig. The sound of his spine snapping almost turns Airia on more than the thought of reproducing does. She and Achilles have grown to love the sound of other dinosaurs suffering more than thoughts of making love. They are envoys of suffering and terror not of love. Mating crosses their mind but they will always act on the former if a present situation calls for it. Their sadism is because they never had parental figures to teach them how raptors should behave.

Achilles swallows the broken and dying _Microraptor_ whole, bones and feathers and all. It sides down Achilles' gullet without much resistance. The animal's feathery body tickles his throat on the way down, but that's about it. It can't fight on the way down because of its broken spine.

Airia sighs, almost romantically, but in a sadistic, dinosaur way. This may be because she loves brutal males. But then again, she hates _Microraptors_ too. So it's a win-win. In Airia's mind, _Microraptors_ are pests of the Dromaeosauridae family and the dinosaur world. They are imposter raptors as far as she is concerned. _Microraptors_ are a species she wouldn't mind watching face extinction. She wishes she was the one who snapped that _Microraptor's_ fragile body in half but her plump belly doesn't allow her to do much.

Achilles returns to his watch post like nothing happened. His teeth are red with the _Microraptor's_ blood. Unbeknownst to either of them, there is a second _Microraptor_. She has frozen in terror behind the partial stump of a burned tree. She witnessed that monster of a raptor break her mate's fragile body in half and swallow him whole while he was still breathing. (She sensed her mate was still alive as that monster swallowed him whole.)

The _Microraptor_ flees at the first opportunity she gets, when both of those monsters look away from the tree stump. Achilles and Airia will never know she was there. But now she must return to the nest and her week-old chicks without their father and without anything to satisfy their hunger. She feels defeated. All because of one mistake, she watched her mate die. Now she can't even feed their chicks because of those monsters. She used to hunt this land with her mate because the _Oviraptor_ family living here was non-aggressive. She saw the male's half-eaten body, but that doesn't shift her main concern away from her now fatherless chicks.

She returns to the nest heartbroken. Her chicks' constant squealing only makes her feel worse. Unless she finds another place to hunt now, they will starve to death. Food has been scarce in the forest turned desert ever since the volcanic eruption turned much of the landscape into desert in two weeks. She does not know what to do for her chicks. There is nowhere else the _Microraptor_ mother knows to hunt for them. Her mate knew the terrain and all the best hunting spots better than she did.

She makes a sort of weeping sound that only _Microraptors_ can make. It is a high-pitched screech that would leave a non- _Microraptor_ dinosaur's ears ringing. She wishes she could switch places with her chicks' father. She does not even know where to begin hunting now that their usual hunting ground has been taken over by that pair of murderous raptors.

* * *

The _Microraptor_ family leaves this region of the desert following two weeks of scraping by on insects, birds and lizards. Her chicks survive long enough that they can all walk on their own. But it will be a long journey for them all. They do not know where to go from here. To make matters worse, food will continue to be scarce.

For the past two weeks, the mother has chosen to feed her chicks at the cost of herself being malnourished and slightly dehydrated. Her ribs are showing through her once beautifully feathered skin. Her feathers are shedding, and not growing back, from the lack of nutrition. Her body is eating away as itself, but she doesn't want her chicks to starve. She knows they will if she dies. It is beginning to look like the widowed _Microraptor_ is damned either way. They will not live much longer if they cannot find a paradise somewhere in this wasteland. Spiders and scorpions and lizards cannot keep four-week old _Microraptors_ that cannot fend for themselves and their mother fed forever.

Their mother is suffering trying to keep her chicks well fed. She will be dead in a week's time, or less, if a miracle doesn't happen. Then her chicks will die because they cannot hope to hunt for themselves. They shouldn't be out of the nest yet, but their mother wasn't left with much choice. The invading _Airakoraptor_ and _Achillobator_ have made it too dangerous for them to stay at their previous nest. They have been vagabonds for the past fourteen days. The mother knows this will be their last week of life if she can't find a good food and water source soon. She won't let her chicks wander this desert without her if that happens. She'll mercifully her five chicks if it comes to that. They don't deserve to suffer the fate of having no parents. She'll spare them wandering this desert without her if she has to.

She groans miserably. But starving herself to ensure her chicks are well fed is a price she is willing to pay if the chicks survive long enough to discover hope. But the _Microraptor_ mother wonders if they will even live long enough to accomplish that. She wants to give him. Those monsters ruined her life and she can hardly feed keep her chicks fed, let alone herself. She wants to end her chicks' suffering, crawl under the sand and just die there. It has become too dangerous for her to hunt scorpions and spiders. Her reflexes aren't what they were the week before. Just yesterday, she was almost stung by an aggressive scorpion protecting its nest.

A faint scent hits the _Microraptor_ mother's nose. It sends an ounce of hope through her half-naked, de-feathered and skinny body. At first, she thinks it is water from an oasis, but then the scent disappears with any hope she has left. She gives up at this point. She does not see things getting better for them now.

There is no hope left for the _Microraptor_ family at this point. Their lifeless bodies will be buried under the desert sand once the end of the next week comes around.

* * *

Airia stretches as she gets up. A whole day as passed since she gorged herself on _Oviraptor_ eggs and flesh. The excess weight she put on from the best meal she's had in a year has since gone away. Following a quick snack on what is left of the _Oviraptor_ father, Achilles and his hunting partner intend to move on.

Recently, they have been spying on dinosaurs migrating from the desert to the east, to the peninsula where that _Tarbosaurus_ and _Quetzalcoatlus_ pair came from. So the two raptors will follow these dinosaurs to the east. Their only food source is leaving and so will they.

A new terror will descend on the peninsula in a few days.

* * *

 **Author's note:** For those wondering, the story's focus will be shifting back to Speckles and his son in the next chapter. I mainly wanted to take some time to introduce new characters.


	5. Fire from the Sky

**Chapter 4**

 _Fire from the Sky_

Nighttime.

But the _Tarbosaurus_ and his son haven't fallen asleep yet. There is something odd about the sky tonight. The pair of _Quetzalcoatlus_ sees it too: Hot yellows and oranges are streaking across the night sky. (They recently moved from their mountaintop nest to this lower elevation cave near the _Tarbosaurus_ ' den). These hotly colored lights make the _Tarbosaurus_ and _Quetzalcoatlus_ ' faces glow.

Other dinosaurs that have also noticed this begin moving from their dens to watch this spectacle from around Speckles' den. It is almost unheard of for herbivores trust a carnivore in the way they trust Speckles and his son. But their dinosaurian instincts tell many of them that he is different from most. They have never seen another carnivore that does not hunt for sport. Speckles and his son are non-aggressive toward their approaching neighbors. This includes families of _Torosaurus_ and _Charonosaurus_ , the _Pukyongosaurus_ alpha male, and mated pairs of _Tsintaosaurus_ and _Protoceratops_.

A smaller group made up of _Microraptors_ and _Archaeopteryx_ lands on the hill. They perch on either side of Quena and Zalio. Their feathers glow bright red, compared to the orange glow cast over the non-feathered dinosaurs' faces.

Elder dinosaurs, even Speckles and the _Pukyongosaurus_ alpha male, are just as curious about this as younger dinosaurs are. The last time any of the gathering dinosaurs witnessed something like this was the volcanic eruption that made their former home inhospitable. But this is nothing fortunately like that, it seems. These lights are not shooting from an exploding mountain towards the sky then falling back down to Earth. They are coming _from the sky_ to begin with. No dinosaur remembers seeing something like that before. If any of them have, they were too young to remember seeing it.

 _Hmm,_ Speckles thinks. He is trying to find an instance of witnessing something like this before stored in his brain. Two minutes of thinking pass and Speckles finds no stored memories of seeing fire falling from the sky. Still, Speckles' instinct tells him there may be nothing to fear. It's not like the fire from the volcano that destroyed the dinosaurs' previous home. He is positive about that much, at least.

However, Junior and some other equally aged or younger dinosaurs are worried by the sight fire falling from the sky. All of them have only bad memories of fire. The young _Torosaurus_ standing by Junior's side has the worst memories of fire out of them all. When he was only a few months old, his entire family burned up in a particularly bad forest fire that began during a season of drought. He would not be here today if it had not been for his aunt. She is a compassionate _Torosaurus_ that would not allow dinosaur to spend their life as an orphan.

He has been naturally fearful of anything to do with fire every since. This fire falling from the sky is no exception to that. It is making the otherwise fearless _Torosaurus_ shake like a leaf caught in a hurricane. It makes him have flashbacks to when his family died just to hear the fire crackling overhead.

Junior is not much better off than that _Torosaurus_ is. No, he did not lose any family to the fire caused by last year's volcanic eruption. But fire is the first thing he learned to fear as a hatchling. He still remembers watching balls of fire raining down from an exploding mountain. Entire forests were destroyed and dinosaurs were burnt to a charred crisp before his eyes. He still remembers how it was almost impossible to tell the difference between charred trees and charred dinosaur corpses.

The sky fire does not bother Speckles, though. He has seen enough fire in his life that he is used to it. Still, the way it bothers the other dinosaurs does have Speckles a little worried that they sense something that he does not. He supposes he can only hope nothing bad will come from it. But he has never known his son to act this way when nothing was wrong. Speckles isn't sure what to think about all this now.

The _Achillobator_ and _Airakoraptor_ living miles away from the peninsula are just as puzzled by the sky fire as those distant dinosaurs are.

Achilles and Airia have never seen burning rocks falling from the sky before. Unknown instinct tells them that it might not be anything good, however. They have never had good experiences with fire. The two raptors were hunting not far from the territory they usurped from the _Microraptors_ a few days ago when they noticed these fiery rocks falling from the heavens.

 _Maybe we should return to our den_ , Airia thinks. For their sake, she hopes Achilles is thinking the same thing. She cannot read his mind, but Airia knows what he is thinking: nothing good ever comes out of anything that burns. The _Airakoraptor_ questions their safety above ground when burning rocks are falling from the sky. For the raptor, this is the equivalent of what a war flashback is to humans. They all survived, but her family's nest was destroyed in a forest fire sparked by a volcanic eruption. Airia's mother nearly died saving her from a lava flow when she sprained her ankle tripping over a rock.

So now the sight of any kind of fire makes the normally iron willed _Airakoraptor_ feel like a frightened _Bambiraptor_. _Bambiraptors_ are afraid of their shadows. She really wants to get back to their den where she doesn't have to look at the sky fire.

However, Achilles is much more curious about this phenomenon he has never seen before. So long as they don't cause any fires near the region, he intends to watch these burning rocks fall from the sky with interest.

 _Not that there is much left here that can burn anyway,_ Achilles thinks.

This place has been nothing more than desert for the past year since the last volcanic eruption wiped anything green and beautiful out of existence. It was the worst two weeks of many dinosaurs' lives, Achilles and Airia included. So many families were split apart in the disaster. Achilles and Airia are lucky they weren't among those dinosaurs, even though they both lost their families to later natural disasters.

Airia growls at Achilles as if to say, _I'm going back to the den, whether you want to join me or not._

She has had enough of watching fire fall from the sky. It brings back too many bad memories for her to bear it anymore. Achilles seems to ignore her. Airia growls offensively before she turns tail on her hunting partner. If that is how he wants to be, then fine. She'll go back to their temporary den without him. He can watch those damn rocks fall from the sky all night as far as she's concerned. She wants nothing to do with it or him anymore if that's how he is going to be.

Airia sighs as she lies down on her belly in the small den. She rests her head down on her front limbs. She is wearing a mournful expression. She is furious with Achilles for ignoring her. Yet she feels so lonely without him at the same time. If her species' eyes could creature tears, they would be endlessly flowing down her cheeks. She closes her eyes. A few minutes later, she has fallen asleep.

Standing just a few feet away from their den, Achilles looks behind himself to communicate with Airia. He is shocked to see she is not there. Achilles lets out an alarm call several times in a row. His call echoes through the barren landscape, but no one ever answers him.

 _Where could she have gone?_ Achilles wonders. _She didn't say anything to me…_ He feels hurt that Airia left him like this.

But then it occurs to the _Achillobator_. He was so entranced by the meteor shower that he stopped paying attention to Airia. It's no wonder she left without alerting him. Achilles assumes she had begun to feel ignored by him, the only friend she has left in her life. Without having to smell for Airia's scent trail, he might know where she went.

 _Who's there?_ Airia thinks. The sound of something scraping around outside their den woke her from her nap. Achilles enters the den in a submissive posture a minute later, with a dead _Velociraptor_ juvenile dangling from his jaws. He gently drops it on the ground in front of Airia, as if he is using it to ask for her forgiveness for paying no attention to her.

Airia does not pay attention to his offering at first. She only rests her head on her arms again, then pretends to fall asleep. She hears Achilles making a low sound that is a raptor's form of begging for forgiveness a minute later. But she waits to open her eyes. Airia stands up and tears a chunk out of the _Velociraptor_ carcass, then offers the rest to Achilles.

Achilles remains in his submissive position as Airia stares down at him. She knows this is not like Achilles. Simply seeing him act like this is enough for her to accept his way of asking for forgiveness. She gently nuzzles her head against his before lying down beside him. Achilles responds by resting his head over Airia's head. They will not leave the den for the rest of the night.

Unbeknownst to Airia and Achilles, a much smaller dinosaur is silently crossing through their temporary territory. She has seen the extent of the _Airakoraptor_ and _Achillobator's_ brutality when they murdered her mate before consuming their unhatched eggs. So she waited for them to retire to their den for the night before crossing through this area.

This is the widow _Oviraptor's_ best path to take for reaching the distant peninsula. But it is still several miles away from her current location. But now she wishes she chose another path. It is not because her mate's killers saw her but the half-eaten carcass of a _Microraptor_ greeting her. Ovina knows they must have killed him, too. She has been watching them for the past two days since they took this territory from the _Microraptor_ family.

It was her intention to move through here as fast as possible to avoid detection from the dinosaur serial killers. But then she notices something strange about the sky. Flaming rocks are falling from the sky in the direction of the southernmost end of the desert. She knows these are meteors from past experiences that make her shudder just thinking back to her past.

Ovina has been terrified of meteor showers ever since she lost her family. They only remind her of death, not a beautiful and rare spectacle that should be enjoyed. She was only five months old when a meteor shower much like this one destroyed her family's nest, orphaning her and one older brother in the process. Their parents, little brothers and sisters did not survive the resulting inferno. Ovina and her brother watched them all roast alive in the flames caused by several small meteorites crashing into the middle of their nest.

Ovina's brother would be alive today if it was not for an ambushing _Velociraptor_ pack. He distracted them so she could escape. The last time she saw, the raptors were tearing him to shreds as she escaped. To this day, Ovina still has nightmares about losing her family in a matter of only a few days.

Ovina has enough. She runs out of the small canyon before the _Airakoraptor_ and the _Achillobator_ notice her. She does not look back nor up into the sky as the small meteorites continue soaring over to the furthest reaches of the desert. Ovina is well on her way to the peninsula now. She will never return to this place as long as she lives. It is only home to bad memories now.

The _Spinosaurus_ lives miles away from where all of this is taking place. But that does not mean he cannot see the meteor shower as well. Meteorites have been flying over his chosen nesting area ever since sunset. Shriker is much closer to where they land than any other dinosaurs watching it are. But he is safe from any small fires caused by the meteors landing in the sand as long as he stays in his cave. There is a way out of the cave at the other end if he has to leave his nest. It will lead him into a large cavern that he has not yet explored, however.

The odor of smoke and fire is stronger than the odor of blood from the _Charonosaurus_ he killed this afternoon. It doesn't matter that he is almost at the back of his den. It has still made Shriker lose his appetite even though he has not eaten much of his kill yet.

 _Maybe I should move into the underground now_ , Shriker bitterly thinks. _I can't even stomach to eat with the smell of smoke looming in here._

The _Spinosaurus_ gives up trying to deal with the smoke after five or ten minutes. Shriker uses his powerful jaws to drag the carcass into the cavern. He is relieved to no longer smell the smoke. He takes in a gulp of the fresh water from a river he discovered in this cavern. This river comes from an opening underneath where Shriker is standing. It probably leads all the way to the peninsula. There is a very slight take of salt in the water, but it doesn't bother Shriker any. This is because of a fresh scent that Shriker has not smelled in years reaching his nostrils. The water he has found in that oasis never smelled this fresh. It was polluted by volcanic ash from last year's eruption.

Shriker rips two large chunks of flesh from his kill's torso, gulps them down, yawns, and then falls asleep. He will not worry anymore about this meteor shower. He has one last thought before falling asleep. It is of his family. They all died when he was only a hatchling. His family's perished at the teeth of the most infamous _T. Rex_ to ever walk the Earth: One-Eye. He hates Speckles and his son, and all members of any _Tyrannosauridae_ species. It is all thanks to One-Eye murdering his parents and siblings.

Speckles, his son, and the _Quetzalcoatlus_ pair continue watching the meteors passing over their peninsula. This is in contrast to their countless neighbors. They way those dinosaurs are panicking tell these four that they have begun to fear that the meteor shower may cost them their safe haven. They must seem something the two _Tarbosaurus_ , Quena, and Zalio do not. Everything still seems so peaceful to them.

Many of these dinosaurs have yet to forget how they lost their previous home to the eruption. The meteor shower only helps further remind them of that terrible ordeal. Only the recently born dinosaurs do not remember it. It is these young dinosaurs that are staring at their parents as if they are insane. But their parents seem to think it is time everyone should return to their caves before something bad happens.

What they don't realize is, it might be too late for that.

 _Huh?_ Junior thinks. He seems a distant glow from what appears to be miles into the sky. It seems like this light is speeding toward where the dinosaurs have gathered. He does not understand what is going on.

Speckles, on the other hand, knows what this is. He begins making a bark unique to only _Tarbosaurus_. The other dinosaurs recognize it is a warning call because of its tone. They begin rushing for cover in the various caves carved into the mountainside. Quena and Zalio are the first to vanish, right into their new den. But in that short of a time, this light in the sky has made what it is known. It is not a small, essentially harmless meteorite as the other falling rocks have been. This rock is an asteroid the thrice the size of any boulder they have seen before.

Dinosaurs that have not yet fled into caves, whether it be their own dens or not, feel the air heating as the meteorite that has not been burned up any by the planet's atmosphere. It is the largest space rock any of the mature dinosaurs have seen in their lives. They know this is not good news for them and they must get to cover before it impacts.

 _Hurry!_ Speckles screams in his brain. His body language tells his son what he is thinking, and the two _Tarbosaurus_ take off together. Many herbivores follow them toward the carnivores' den, in this moment forgetting any fears of _Tarbosaurus_ they all have.

As soon as Speckles, his son, and various herbivores tumble into their den, all hell breaks loose. It starts with a loud explosion, followed by a blinding light that makes the dinosaurs close their eyes and look to the back of the cave. They feel an intense heat not unlike a forest fire, and hear the frightened calls of dinosaurs that did not make it to shelter in time. The sound of fire hits the dinosaurs' ears. The sound sends even Speckles charging as far back into the den as possible. Still, they can feel the heat and hear the screams coming from outside.

The dinosaurs that did not make it to shelter do not know what to do now, as the flames surround them. Trees, flowers, and bushes are ablaze all around them as they seek out shelter in a frenzy. Parents try herding juvenile dinosaurs to safety, even if they are not of the same species, but the fire spreads too quickly for there to be any organized communication between the frightened dinosaurs. Some perish as they run, in blind panic, right into the flames, not realizing what they have done until it is too late.

 _I can't just let them all die,_ Speckles thinks. He growls for his son to stay put no matter what happens to him. Junior reluctantly nods. He wants to follow his dad, but he knows better. He has never helped other dinosaurs escape a forest fire before, but his dad has at least twice in the past. He just hopes his dad makes it back unscathed.

Thirty minutes pass before Speckles returns to where he left his son and other dinosaurs. He is alone, with a tragic expression on his face. The dinosaurs he left here knew many of their neighbors had made it to safety, but there were still at least two dozen that hadn't yet.

Speckles does not need to know how to speak for the other dinosaurs to know the reason for his tragic expression. They know what happened just by seeing he has returned to the shelter alone. Speckles does not even look at his sun as he makes his way to the back of the cave. He just wants to be alone right now, believing that it is his fault no other dinosaurs made it out of the inferno.

Speckles will never forget watching the group of eight surviving dinosaurs he tracked down bellowing in panic as they were trapped in a circle of fire. Several burning trees had fallen down all around them, taking away any escape routes. Speckles tried to help them, but there hadn't been a way for him to get around the fallen trees. He was given no choice but to escape with his own life, even if his leadership instinct had been telling him otherwise, as the dinosaurs bellowed out in pain. He knows they were all burned alive, but hopes their deaths were as quick as can be.

Speckles rests his head on the hard ground of his den. He does not look when Junior comes to him, only to be led away by Chara, the same _Charonosaurus_ his father hunted when Shriker attacked, and Quena.

Quena would say "Now is not the time, Junior" to the young _Tarbosaurus_ if dinosaurs vocal cords allowed for speech. Junior does not take his eyes off his father, though. All the dinosaurs here, mostly herbivores, feel terrible for Speckles. They cannot begin to fathom how his heart is feeling right now.

He will never forgive himself for his failure even if they did go quickly in the fire.

* * *

 **Author's note:** This is a chapter I thought I'd never finish. It's probably not as good as I'd hope it would be, but at least it's over. Updates should be faster after this. I had this idea for weeks before I was even to this chapter, but I suppose it wasn't as easy to execute as I'd thought. I doubt I'll have that problem with the rest of the story, though.


	6. Unexpected Reunion

**Author's note:** This will be a short chapter, but that was my intention anyway. There probably won't be another chapter that is this short.

* * *

 **Chapter 5  
Unexpected Reunion**

Speckles is relieved but depressed all at the same time. A sudden rain shower prevented further loss of life, but the _Tarbosaurus_ cannot live with the reality that he could not save any of the dinosaurs he went to rescue. Their burned carcasses lay all around as a reminder to his perceived failure.

The only positive thought Speckles has is this: _At least we didn't lose our home to the fire the falling rocks caused._ But his thoughts quickly become negative. _But why couldn't the rainstorm have come in sooner? Look at how many dinosaurs lost their lives in the fire that could have been saved by it._

Quena is perched on a cliff overlooking the tragic scene, with Zalio by her side. Something has been bothering the female _Quetzalcoatlus_ ever since they emerged from the cave, but she does not know what. A faint, but seemingly familiar scent has been lingering in her nostrils all morning, but her dinosaurian brain has not been able to determine. Maybe it is a storm, she thought. They all live on near an ocean after all. She sniffs again, and scraps the idea. She does not smell water. She smells what might be another dinosaur, possibly a _Quetzalcoatlus_.

Without making a sound that would alert Zalio of her intentions, Quena flew off from their perch. He flaps his wings to take off after her when it occurs to him what is happening.

 _Where are they going?_ Speckles wonders. He knew he better follow them, just to make sure they did not get themselves in danger. Life experience tells Speckles that Shriker will eventually return to this place to seek revenge against him and Junior, knowing the _Spinosaurus_ could begin with killing those close to them. Speckles will do all he can to make sure that doesn't happen, even if it costs him his own life to ensure the safety of those he cares about.

Quena lands on a tree several meters away from her perch, and looks around the beautiful landscape turned barren in places for a sign. She lets out a call unique to _Quetzalcoatlus_ that only other members of her species will understand and respond. Just as Zalio perches beside her, her call is answered. Her instincts tell her it is a male _Quetzalcoatlus_ , and a younger one, too.

She screeches a second time, and again, the unseen _Quetzalcoatlus_ answers her. A minute later, the sound of wingbeats reach her ears, and after that, she notices something flying in the distance. It is a male _Quetzalcoatlus_ , just as she thought. Quena makes a sound to tell Zalio he should wait there, and she takes off to greet the stranger that seems more familiar by the second. Maybe a faint memory of a tragedy from her past, when her and Zalio's nest was destroyed in a storm, and their one surviving chick was swept away before they could save him, but this _Quetzalcoatlus_ is starting to seem very familiar to Quena.

After they reach each other in the sky, the two _Quetzalcoatlus_ find another scorched tree to perch together. Now that she has seen him up close, a scent she never forgot after all these years moves through her olfactory system and she now knows who this young male, more than half her age, is.

If she could, Quena would say: _I remember you! You are my son who was lost in the storm two years ago._ She could not believe it. How did her son, only a hatchling that could not fly at the time, survive being sucked away by a tornado? Still, there is no doubt in Quena's heart that this is her missing son. A mother dinosaur never forgets the scent of their offspring, even if she has not seen them in years.

Quena does not notice Zalio joining them on a higher branch. He, too, senses that this is their long-lost son, just as Speckles and Junior approach the scene. The two _Tarbosaurus_ stop before they get too close, when something tells them that they should not interrupt this moment. Making a low growl, Speckles looks to his son and nods, then they turn away to leave the _Quetzalcoatlus_ family alone.

They will keep watch on them from a distance, should something go wrong. The prehistoric world is a dangerous place, where dinosaurs must always be ready for the unexpected. Last night's meteor shower is proof of that, and so is Shriker's attack that nearly cost Speckles his life. Remembering that, Speckles was extra alert, should Shriker return in this moment, or any time in the future. His return will inevitably happen and when that time comes, Speckles will be ready for him, and he will be the only one to walk away the next time they battle.

Quena and Zalio, however, have no thoughts about Shriker's inevitable return. Their son is the only thing on their mind right now. No dinosaur in the world is happier than Quena, Zalio, and their son are in this moment. The three _Quetzalcoatlus_ believe nothing could ruin this moment, proof that happiness can still rise from a terrible turn of events such as last night's meteor shower. They do not know, however, that there are still many more dark days to come in the lives of all the dinosaurs living on the peninsula, and even as far away as the western deserts, that not even Speckles will be ready for.


	7. The Day the Sky Went Dark

**Author's note:** First off, just so he gets the credit he deserves, there's a paragraph in this chapter that was written by mikey1393drago. I meant to post this a long time ago but [I think] I forgot to for some reason.

* * *

 **Chapter 6:  
The Day the Sky Went Dark**

Speckles watches the moon with an uneasy feeling forming in his stomach. The moon has never given him such a feeling before, so why did it tonight? He seems to be the only dinosaur watching the moon, he notices, as they others go about their natural business like nothing is wrong. Even the usually skittish family of _Microraptors_ seem calm today, as they preen each other for pests and to remove damaged feathers. It is a sight to behold when they are calm like this, Speckles thinks as he remembers seeing some of them startled by water dripping down on them from leaves, of all things. _Microraptors_ are among the most alert dinosaurs. They must be alert since they are at the bottom of the prehistoric Korean food chain.

The _Microraptors_ squeak down at Speckles from their treetop hideout, one of the few trees that wasn't burned down by last night's meteor shower, but Speckles pays little attention to them. They are always making loud noises to ward off predators, but a _Tarbosaurus_ would not waste their time with hunting tree borne _Microraptors_. They are prey meant for _Velociraptors_ , not a dinosaur like Speckles. Assuming _Velociraptors_ can catch them, that is. _Microraptors_ rarely leave their treetop dwellings, where insects used to be prevalent before last night, let alone wander out into the deserts where the _Velociraptors_ scavenge for prey.

Speckles does not move away from their tree at first, provoking the _Microraptors_ to squeak more intensely at the _Tarbosaurus_ until he has enough of the high-pitched noise and walks away with an irritated look on his face. He stops near the largest lake on the peninsula, where he stares down at his reflection. A minute later, Speckles sees another _Tarbosaurus'_ reflection in the water besides him and spins around in alarm, but he is relieved to see that it is Junior.

Speckles stares at his son as if to say 'Don't sneak up on me like that' before Junior joins him in staring at the lake. The feeling of dread Speckles has does not go away, though.

* * *

Two raptors emerge from their underground hideout. Burning rocks lay on the sand where they did not before. Airia and Achilles remember the terrible sound from last night, and they did not leave their hideout once to see what it had been. They now realize that if they had, neither of them would be alive today. The charred corpses of a few dinosaurs half-buried in sand support this realization.

Whereas the _Airakoraptor_ is more cautious as they emerge from their shelter, fearing that whatever happened may not be over yet, the _Achillobator_ is quick to explore the scene. Everywhere he looks, Achilles finds crater-filled rocks that are still burning. The way the flames make his rusty yellow facial feathers glow red leaves Airia feeling uneasy as she approaches him, making a low growling sound with the hope of bringing her long-time hunting partner back to her. She does not like the sight of so many of these funny-looking rocks; they give her a feeling of dread that she knows her kind shouldn't be feeling.

If Airia could say 'Come on, Achilles. Let us get back to our den before something happens', she would. The longer he examines this burning stone, the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach only becomes worse with each passing minute. The feathers on the back of Airia's head and hanging from her wrists stand on edge as she hisses at Achilles. She knows that they need each other to survive but she is also quickly becoming fed up with her hunting partner's stubbornness, a trait of Achilles that has become more noticeable in the past few days. Airia sometimes wishes she could strike him over the head over it, but she knows it wouldn't accomplish anything other than Achilles striking her back.

She cannot refuse swiping her partner round the head with her tail any longer as he ignores her even more, but what she thought would mean the same strike back, all Achilles did was glance in her direction before going back to staring at the burning stone. He seems to crouch for a closer look, with a quiet grumble telling Airia something he would never tell anyone else even if he could speak words. Airia soon understands that Achilles is upset, and instantly does all she can to comfort him on the matter at hand. Her loving nature for him is soon answered with a slight lick on her cheek, and she returns the same caring action before they both recall a memory as their eyes fill with emotional flames.

Achilles has never forgotten the horrors he and Airia faced; being different species of raptors, they did not come from the same families but their families had lived alongside each other for years. Their lives together were well remembered and revered; always working together when the time had called for it, and these two in particular knew how to get along whenever they met with each other. But after that one nightmarish moment in their lives a few years ago, Airia and Achilles become the only family either of them would ever have again.

* * *

 _It was a day in the middle of the summer when Airia and Achilles were only a few months old, barely ready to leave the safety of their nest and fend for themselves in this Cretaceous world. Their respective parents always watch over them, sometimes together, fearing something would happen to their only hope for their families' future they would be able to produce this year; it was nearing the end of the mating season, so if anything happened to their respective litters now, it would be a whole year before they could have another extend their bloodlines. Their homeland, located far from the peninsula that was a safe haven for the herbivores had never been a grand place to race young'uns, but they were always chased off when they had tried migrating to the peninsula in the past in search for better nesting grounds by herbivore parents before they could even prepare their nests._

 _The climate is always hard to bear this far from the much cooler peninsula, but the older dinosaurs have started to adapt. But their hatchlings are a different story altogether; for they cannot deal with the blistering heat as well as their parents and even infrequent grandparents can. The hatchlings rarely stray far from the dens this time of year anyway; they would be baked alive if they stayed in the sun for too long._

 _Normally the various raptors' days go about peaceful but today was not one of those days; a shrill cry of anguish sliced the air like their killing claws would slice their prey's bodies as a pack of_ Airakoraptors _and a pack of_ Achillobators _sprint across the barren landscape, destroyed by a volcanic eruption the year before that forced many of the herbivorous dinosaurs to make their trek to the peninsula they had always been chased away from. Two hatchlings from each of the raptor packs have gone missing from their dens, even though their parents had drilled it into their young minds to never go wandering around the desert alone; the two hatchlings respective parents had awoke to find them missing from their underground nests._

 _So now the two separate packs, which had always co-existed peacefully and worked together despite their obvious differences, were now working together to find the two hatchlings before it was too late; they were the oldest hatchlings of each pack's respective alpha male and alpha females, the hatchlings that would replace their parents as leaders when the current leaders became too old for such a demanding task. Both players' respective pairs of alphas were too old to mate again, so it was imperative they found the two hatchlings before something else did; there was no one else in the packs that the current alphas would allow to succeed them as leaders when the time came for them to step down and allow someone to take their place._

 _The_ Achillobator _alpha female calls out; it is a cry of both grief and worry for her son, as well as the other pack's alphas' daughter. More than the other raptors, she does not understand why they would have ran away like this. They were raised to know better; or at least she thought they had been, but maybe they weren't as well-behaved and obedient chicks as they had led her to believe all these months. She would give her son one hell of a beating they found the two missing chicks; they would not run away from their nests again when she was done issuing the harshest punishment a raptor species could think of. It seems cruel, but it was the way of all raptor species; if they did not learn discipline at a very young age, they would not survive into adolescence, forget about adulthood, in this unforgiving landscape._

 _The desert was more dangerous now than it ever had been before ever since that family of_ Spinosaurus _had appeared from the west to quickly assert its dominance over the native raptor species. She still remembers the day that family of_ Spinosaurus _first appeared about a year ago; it was the bloodiest day of all the packs' lives. They had attempted to bring down the father_ Spinosaurus _together, but things quickly went south; the female and their two adolescent children had joined the fray at the last minute and massacred more than half of each the three attacking raptor packs. The third pack, made up of Velociraptors, had lost its alpha male and female and eventually disbanded due to disagreements over who should replace their fallen alphas; this velociraptor pack had not been seen since it disbanded. They were probably all dead, killed by the same_ Spinosaurus _family that took out the other two thirds of their pack. The_ Velociraptors _had suffered the greatest casualties in this attack, but also fought with the most determination even if cost them their leaders._

 _Another_ Achillobator _calls out; it is her mate, the alpha male of the_ Achillobator _pack. His call tells her that he may have found something. The others just hope it is nothing bad as they rush to join him where he is standing on the peak of a sand dune. They are all stunned to see that the two missing raptor chicks are alive and unharmed; they are playing and chasing each other around just at the bottom of the sand dune. The chicks' carefree behavior tells their fellow pack members that they have never been in danger. Yet. That could always change in a minute out here where the predators are more ravenous than anywhere else; a desperate carnivore, separated from the rest of its pack or family, would not hesitate to snatch up to defenseless raptor chicks as an easy meal._

 _Both of the chicks' mothers call out with a bark. The chicks stop playing and running about and stare at the where the barking came from; the tone of their mothers' calls tells them they are in trouble. They start to walk back to the sand dune with their heads hanging low; they know what kind of punishment to expect from their parents for running away._

 _Before the pair of raptor chicks can began their ascent up the side of the sand dune, they and the adults sense something is wrong. The lower ranking raptors began to get off the sand dune, but the two pairs of alphas do not budge; their concern for their chicks' safety overwhelms their sense of danger. The reality is, however, that their chicks are not the ones that are in harm's way. The sand beneath the two pairs of alpha raptors begins to shift; in an instant, all four of them vanish and the sand dune collapses in on itself. The raptors screams of terror are eventually swallowed up with them by the sand; they continue to scream from several feet beneath the sand, but no one other than themselves can hear it._

 _Nonetheless, their subordinates and their hatchlings are trying their best to dig out their buried leaders before it is too late. A female_ Airakoraptor _, larger than the others who are digging, lets out a warning cry for them to all get off the sand dune, but it is not soon enough. The sand dune collapses in on itself for a second time before all of the raptors can run or jump to safety, and half of them are swallowed up by the desert just as their leaders were, screaming for help as their bodies and finally their heads vanish beneath the hot sand. Their muffled screams can be heard as the sand continues to bury them alive further, but this time what is left of each pack does nothing to help them; they now know that it will only cause more death. The buried raptors' cries eventually fade away, still present by lost to their fellow raptors' ears; they are buried under too much sand for any sound to escape and will die from either suffocation, or from swallowing too much of the hot sand as they cry out for him. There is nothing that can be done for them now; they will all die slowly if they cannot dig themselves out of what might become their sandy graves._

 _The remaining adult_ Achillobators _and_ Airakoraptors _all look to the two now orphaned chicks who had snuck away from their nests. The adults all howled and barked in agreement that these two were to blame for this tragedy, and should be driven away for good as punishment for causing so much suffering and death in one instance. If they had not snuck off like this, against their parents' earlier warnings no less, then none of this would have happened, the adults believe as they chase the two chicks away so that they will never return._

* * *

Not a day has went by that Achilles or Airia do not remember this; they regret it just as much. They did not realize it then but their actions, simply sneaking off to play without being under the watch of the adults for once, cost their parents and half of their respective packs their lives. They know that the packs split up on this day and went their separate ways, without any proper leadership; whether any of them had survived was unknown, but Achilles and Airia didn't really care either. They had both survived without any adults, so that was all that mattered to them now. They hoped they never saw what had remained of their pack again, if any of them even survived to agree on proper leadership, with that family of _Spinosaurus_ that had still been lurking around at the time.

Airia licks Achilles on the cheek again, but something in the sky that cuts their love for each other short soon catches their eye. Achilles makes a low growling sound that tells Airia to _run_ back to their underground den now; he quickly follows her as a flaming space rock is coming this way; it was set ablaze by passing through the atmosphere and not completely burning up lost most would have. All becomes briefly silent before there is a loud explosion from just beyond the den and the sky turns as red as flames; Airia and Achilles push further back into the deck, but it is of no use, as the den only goes back not even twenty feet into the ground.

Airia believes they will be safe from the flames down here, but Achilles realizes that may not be the case before she does. Airia simply lies down without a care in the world but Achilles knows better than to; he is proven right again when the spreading flames pass dangerously close by the mouth of the den, waking Airia from her light nap to see Achilles towering over her with his back towards the exit. The _Achillobator_ is grimacing in pain but does not move, for he knows that doing so would cost Airia her life; he is the only thing keeping the wall of flames from entering this den and roasting them both alive. Achilles intends to do all he can to ensure at least one of them survives this ordeal, no matter how much pain it causes him.

Airia wants to scream "Achilles!" but her dinosaurian vocal cords do not allow for it; the sound only comes out as a shrill screech that sounds like she said "Azizilez" more than "Achilles". Achilles is now screeching in pain as the flames sent out by the meteor press on against his back but he refuses to move for Airia's sake; he does not care how much he suffers as long as she is not harmed. Achilles grits his teeth together to the point where he swears they are making a scraping sound against each other and continues to bear a pain that no other raptor would even dare to; his raptor screams continue to chill Airia's blood as the fire ravages his scales from his neck to the tip of his tail.

Now Airia screeches for this to all stop; she knows Achilles cannot be a wall between the flames for much longer; she can tell that the pain is becoming far too much for even a strong-scaled raptor like Achilles to stand. As if a miracle occurred, Achilles suddenly no longer feels the flames against his back a minute later; he collapses onto the ground, revealing his back to be severely burnt. His back is a dark bloody red color, almost black, and steaming hot; Achilles is groaning as he lays there, floating in and out of consciousness, while Airia is stone faced and silent. She does not know what to do for Achilles; these burns on his bar are far worse than anything she has ever seen before.

Airia's worse fear has always been that she would lose Achilles and it was looking like that was going to happen tonight. Weeping in a way only raptors can, she lays down beside her suffering hunting partner to give him a just a little bit of comfort in what may be their final moment in this world together.

Achilles will be lucky as it is if he is still around to witness the sun rising the next morning.


End file.
